Daily Inspiration: Meet Nicole Walker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Walker. 

Hi Nicole, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Growing up in the Cary area of the Triangle, I saw the incredible growth and expansion of what was a smaller town into a metropolitan area. It planted the seed of interest in development and growth at an early age. 

I went on in my life to go to East Carolina University in Greenville and learned so much from my Education and Communication classes there that I easily transitioned into multiple sales roles. Due to the encouragement of close friends and colleagues, I decided to take on getting my real estate license and starting a new career in that industry. I was extremely lucky to find myself in the Keller Williams Preferred family and specifically on the Carolina Open Door Realty team. I had amazing training, learned how to service clients at an excellent level, and how to build my business and foster relationships. I was not looking for other opportunities but I stumbled onto one that would change my life. 

I became a Core Broker with True Homes for about a year (a special partnership between the builder and local agents) and grew to really love the culture and quality of their company. When I found out an opening was available, I spent a lot of time researching and considering and decided to throw myself into pursuing the opportunity. Working with True Homes has completely changed my life. Not only do they provide “the opportunity for more life”, they have given me the ability to build my wealth, extending the reach to my friends and family around me. This opportunity allowed me to reach out and foster relationships within the industry and with our clients, whom we consider friends and family, especially on social media. 

I’ve learned so much thus far in my career and look forward to growing even more in the future. I’ve learned how important each and every relationship is, how important it is to plan for the worst and excel at our best, embraced a deeper relationship with God, and made some of the best friendships of my lifetime. I’m ecstatic about my position in the community now and looking forward with high levels of enthusiasm to what we can do together in the future. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was definitely not a smooth road. I went to college for 4 years but couldn’t find my passion and never graduated. So, I left and moved to England with my father for a few months, still taking some classes and figuring out what I wanted to do. My father is key figure in my life as he has strong leadership and has achieved much in his own life so I knew I could look to him for great advice. He told me “The only time you should take a step back is when it sets you up to take two good ones forward.” It stuck with me for a long time! I kept it in the back of my mind during my struggles and when it finally sunk in, I kept it at the front of my decision-making process. 

When I first got into real estate, I went from a $50 – 70k a year sales position to making roughly $10k in my first year all while supporting family as well. I had to stay determined, take the right trainings, work multiple jobs at once, get the right support system around me, all while tackling the task of being the best possible agent for my clients and not letting them see the struggle. I like to say agents are insulation. It’s not our job to get emotional or to give clients our emotional turmoil in the middle of an incredibly stressful decision of their own. 

That’s why I look back on the road I’ve taken in a very grateful and blessed mindset. I could not possibly have gotten to a six-figure income with amazing culture, benefits, and a family of co-workers and partners without the people and experiences that guided me here. And I’m still building! 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a real estate agent that represents the largest privately-owned residential builder in the Carolinas, True Homes. I not only sell their top-quality affordable homes, I foster relationships with brokers, trade partners, clients, lenders, the community, etc. One of the things I love the most about True Homes is how much this company is centered on other people and the community. We do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, we do our best to educate and advocate. At least half of my job is partnering with independent real estate agents (General Brokerage Agents/Realtors) to educate them on market dynamics, the different types of builders, important parts of the building process they need to know for their clients (construction, finances/loan types, contracts, etc.), social media, how to grow their business, marketing, and it just goes on! I’m most proud of the partners that I’ve influenced. It’s amazing to see someone take the lessons you learned the hard way, implement them, and succeed beyond everyone’s wildest dreams! Of course, I am so incredibly proud of the impact that we have on our clients and their homes because each one matters, but the impact I have with my partners is a ripple effect that goes out to many more families than I will ever even meet. This other-centric mindset is definitely what sets me and our whole team apart from others. 

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Being around people I love and trust makes me happy. Since a lot of what I do requires high-performance mindsets and motivation, it is incredibly powerful to be able to let my guard down and just enjoy experiences with friends and family. Whether that’s a great night out with awesome food and drinks, a country concert, sitting around a fire, cooking in the house, reading quietly and drinking coffee, or traveling and experiencing things I never thought I could, the fundamental piece of it that makes me happy is the people I get to experience it with. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.truehomesusa.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicolewtruehomes
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/nicolewtruehomes

Image Credits:
Ashley Canipe
Arielle Stratton
Shahroon Rana